Galtier laments Saint-Etienne´s wastefulness

Saint-Etienne head coach Christophe Galtier lamented his team’s wastefulness after their 0-0 draw at Toulouse on Friday.

The scoreless draw meant Saint-Etienne jumped into third in Ligue 1, but it was a missed chance to put serious pressure on Lille in the battle for the third UEFA Champions League place.

Lille face Sochaux on Saturday and a point would be enough to see them settle back in behind Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco.

Galtier said the scoreless draw at Toulouse was a good result but rued his team’s failure to take their chances in the final 20 minutes.

“Opportunities are presented in the last 20 minutes. Toulouse are a generous team and it is not a coincidence that they concede a lot of goals during this period,” he said.

“We should have been more clinical. I regret this but there is an opponent that must be contained.

“Calling this a bad result would be disrespectful to (Toulouse). I think it is a good result.”

Saint-Etienne face Marseille on February 16 and have a clash with Monaco in early March in matches, which could be decisive to their hopes of qualifying for Europe.

Galtier said he expected the next two months to be the key and is eyeing a win over Marseille.

“To get interesting places, you must earn almost two points per game. If we took a point here, it will be necessary to beat Marseille, a direct competitor,” he said.

“We’re still going to sleep well tonight. We’ll see tomorrow what our opponents will do. February-March is always a turning point.”

Toulouse coach Alain Casanova, who team sit 12th and 12 points clear of the relegation zone, was frustrated by the 0-0 draw.

“Although we can consider that this is a good point against such an opponent, I’m pretty frustrated with this result,” he said.

“When one also has some offensive situations, you cannot have that regret. I would have liked to be more patient, especially in the first half to be able to impose our game.”